The Water Keeper - by Charles Martin: Book Review

Title: The Water Keeper

Author: Charles Martin

Series: Murphy Shepherd 

Pages: 352

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publishing Date: May 5th 2020

Genre: Contemporary

Themes: Human trafficking; Florida, US; Lost family members; 

Format: Kindle

Rating: 3*

Plot: Murphy Shepherd is a man who works for the government (sort of), is a priest (sort of), and writes novels to heal (sort of). He tracks girls and young women who have gone missing, and were allured or kidnapped by human traffickers. With a history of almost 10 years of saving victims, he's faced with yet another tough case in the murky waters of slavery.

Liked:

- As the novel progressed, there were a few characters that joined Murphy Shepherd and became involved in finding Angel, a teenager allured by flesh dealers: people who sell and buy people. It's basically slavery. I liked the idea of a group of people, each with their own story, joining the mission, but having their personal reasons as well.

- The dog

- Cliche or not, there are some good quotes throughout the novel

- The idea that love is stronger than many failings and mistakes

- The idea that we all need a saviour. However, I would have liked to see this point made by pointing to God, not that much to a mere man. It is, after all, what we were all made to crave: a love that doesn't stop being poured over us, no matter what we do.

- Although very heavy, the topic is relevant. I learned things I didn't know about human trafficking and how the men involved in this operated. It might be uncomfortable to read, but to think this happens more often than we are even aware is sickening and heartbreaking

Disliked:

- too many coincidences, so that everything works out just fine in the end. Even the scenes where there are fights with the bad guys (the flesh dealers, as they are called) turn out fine. They were not the scenes that kept me turning the pages because despite the many bruises, cuts, shots, or hits the hero receives, he survives and is back on his feet in no time. And he manages just fine with little sleep and little food. 

- the convoluted plot - adding more and more layers to the story was a bit too much. The lost wife (two times! but third time's the charm!) and the unknown-of daughter were too much. It's difficult to follow along at times, and I wasn't always sure what was real and what not, especially since we were told in the beginning he was going to scatter his wife's ashes. Turns out, we were reading a page from the novel the main character wrote. A story within a story. It takes a while to figure this out.

- the way Charles Martin portrays women will never cease to irk me: always weak, always in need of a saviour, always so easy to fall for the good-looking, physically strong man, albeit not that emotionally strong. I know Summer was a woman who needed saving, but repeatedly saying she touched him, she kissed him, she wanted to be near him, despite knowing him for few days, was bothersome. 

- the man who is a saviour. I know that Murphy Shepherd is the human potrayal of Jesus Christ, I know this is the point of the novel. However, the only thing it seemed to underline is that a man can be a saviour all on his own. Oh, wait, not really. There's Bones, the man behind the action: he offers help unseen. I know there needs to be someone who saves the women caught in human trafficking, but hammering the invincibility and saviour-like persona of Murphy Shepherd was too much to read.

- there is a lot of description about the course Murphy took in his journey to find Angel. As someone who lives outside US, I didn't care for this, and I surely didn't Google it. In the same vein, all the details about all the boats - over my head & went in one ear and out the other.

- There are many details about many things, a clear sign the author did research, but it felt too much. I wish there wasn't the plot with the daughter or the lost & found (again! and again!) wife. Towards the end I couldn't wait to finish it, but I was still curious. Very possible I'll be reading the other books in the series.